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French counter-terrorism experts have identified 64 suburbs in dozens of cities that act as breeding grounds for Islamic extremism.

So-called ‘ghettos’ with high rates of youth unemployment, immigration and single-parent families, such as L’Ariane near Nice, have been linked to the radicalisation of young and vulnerable people.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls last month admitted that the country had collapsed into social and ethnic ‘apartheid’ – the first time a senior politician has conceded that economic marginalisation and religious tensions have led to serious divides.

Until 17 people were killed in January’s shocking Charlie Hebdo terror attacks, the French government remained largely consistent in its claim that overriding ‘Frenchness’ was a unifying factor more powerful than loyalties to local communities or religious belief.